CHAPTER 44: LET'S GO ON A TRIP

The days roll on without much happening. The campus and dorms are now practically deserted aside from the student body members who are still busy with the preparation for the summer camp. And of course, the revenge-driven football players who keep training like their life depended on it it makes me feel kind of bad for Chuck. He keeps coming back here so late at night, he has bags under his eyes and he always looks exhausted.

Allen and Joy went back home for a few days. They got in early yesterday morning and they both looked kinda tense. Maybe they had a fight? I don't know, and I'm trying not to care.

I spend my days mostly alone in my room, doing nothing but stare at the ceiling until I fall asleep. Or I'll go outside with my camera and take pictures of random things and put them on my social media accounts and/or edit them for my portfolio, which I have been trying to curate to perfection lately.

Then Friday comes all too soon and yet not soon enough.

We huddle up in Allen's car yawning and feeling sluggish. It's currently three thirty in the morning and we are about to head out to the Crystal Maiden Lodge that's five hours away. Since it's still very early, we'll take turns driving at least every hour or so; that way we can be sure that we can arrive there safely and have enough rest. We let the girls sit at the back so they can sleep some more. Allen's driving first with Kenneth being the co-pilot. I'm in the middle row with Chuck who is sleeping with his head on my lap. I try to stay awake since Kenneth was going to sleep before his turn driving, so I talk with Allen also to make sure he stays awake while driving.

The thing that made me glad that I fell in love with Allen and the thing I'm grateful for is that regardless of that regardless of what had happened between us, we can still carry normal, casual almost nonsensical conversation like normal friends do. It's relaxing and very much not burdensome.

It also kinda shows off how amazing of a liar the two of us are. Me, probably even more so since I'm basically the 'instigator' or whatever. But us conversing like this about mundane things, makes me realize that, truly, humans are very peculiar. You can never truly know someone.

I scoff to myself as I thought of that. But more so in self-deprecation.

Chuck wakes up not long after Allen switches with Kenneth. He complains about Marsha making us get up in the middle of the night to drive. I shot him a warning glare, not wanting her to wake up.

"Come here," Chuck says when I yawn. I scoot around and he, like always, sits me between his legs. My own rest on the remaining space on the middle seat. My head is leaning against his shoulder comfortably.

I deliberately did not look in Allen's direction. I mean, it's not like he cares, right? He doesn't like me like that so he obviously won't get jealous. And besides, it's very normal for me to act this way with Chuck. Well, normal for us (and Marsha) anyway.

"Sleep, babe," Chuck squeezes me gently. I smile and close my eyes, letting my body relax even more and find my sleep again. This time, with a little more rest.

*

"Lee... Lee... Baby wake up," I hear Chuck's voice faintly as my consciousness starts to wake up. I rub my eyes and look at him. "It's my turn to drive," he says smiling apologetically. I nod and sit up, removing myself from his arms. He kisses my cheek before alighting and changing seats with Kenneth.

"Kenny~" I whine as soon as Kenneth sits beside me, replacing Chuck. He rolls his eyes and pats his thighs. I grin cheekily before putting my head down on his lap, sighing in content.

But this time I can't sleep. I'm still sleepy, very sleepy. But I keep opening my eyes and gaze over at Allen. He's not looking at me, obviously. He's staring out the window. It seems to me that his mind is somewhere else, far away from where he is physically.

My mind? Well, everything in there is all about Allen. I can't seem to stop thinking about him ever since I realized that I have fallen in love with him. Hell, maybe even before that. I think about him all the time. Even if he's right there.

It's worse when he's not around. I'd think about where he is, what's he doing, who's he with, is he with Joy? And if he is, what are they doing? And then I'd feel miserable thinking about how happy they must be. Pathetic, I know. But I can't help it. I love him so much. 'Too much'. And I can almost feel my feelings grow with every passing second. The fact that he's already with someone doesn't seem to help with anything, really, other than making me feel like the worst jerk in the world. My feelings are shameless. Just like me.

"Where are we?" Marsha's sleepy voice snaps me from my thoughts and I look up, seeing her already sitting up, peering over the back of the seat.

"Almost there," I tell her, getting up myself and pecking her cheek while Kenneth pecks her lips and hands her a bottle of water.

"Gosh, I'm hungry." Joy, beside Marsha, stretches her body and yawns.

"Morning, Joy," I greet her.

"Morning, guys," she greets us and turns to Allen who's still looking out the window. She frowns, "Allen, honey," she calls out to him and he snaps out of his thoughts, turning around with slightly wide eyes before they find her.

"Hey babe," he smiles at Joy warmly.

Oh, hey pain. There you are!

Since all of us are now awake, we chat and munch on snacks we brought. Chuck insists to drive the rest of the way there because he claims that I am a reckless driver while he's the one going 80 in 60. But I'm not actually complaining. I don't really like to drive all that much. I'm a pretty decent driver, mind ya, I'm just not very keen on the idea of having another's soul on my shoulders.

And just like Marsha said, we arrived at the lodge just before nine, which means we have about an hour before the breakfast buffet is closing.

I rush to the massive lodge we'd be staying at. It's a big wood and red brick building. Beautiful and slightly giving off a rustic feeling. With two floors, there are plenty of rooms for all of us. The back is facing a magnificent man-made lake surrounded by other lodges with a campfire not far from the shore on each lodge's territory.

The lodge itself has a big living room with super comfortable couches and very soft faux-fur carpet facing the fireplace. The kitchen is spacious. There is one bathroom on the first floor and a bedroom connected to it. On the second floor, there are two bedrooms each with their own bathrooms. Kenneth and Marsha will stay on the first floor while me and Chuck and Allen and Joy (duh!) will each take a room for ourselves.

We settle ourselves and wash up a little before rushing to the restaurant for breakfast. The buffet is awesome. They have everything I like. Steaming hot fish porridge, steaming hot meat bun, steaming hot fried rice, bacon, eggs, muffins and even various types of cereal which I take without milk to nibble on while Chuck is off getting me my actual breakfast. But somehow, I don't feel all that hungry despite all the mouth-watering variants placed in front of me. I end up settling with a small bowl of clear soup, a banana and apple juice.

"Too many snacks," I tell Chuck and Marsha who's eyeing my breakfast questioningly. They seem to not believe that so I just shrug and continue eating, not even trying to come up with excuses which they will obviously take with tons of salt.

"So, what are we doing after this?" Joy asks as she nibbles on her cold salad with a side of crisp bacon and sunny-side-up.

"I want to see the butterfly garden," Marsha tells us as she turns to Kenneth who smiles at her dotingly.

"Think I'm gonna sleep," I shrug, again, "Ow! What the hell is that for?" I growl at Chuck who smirks after he pinches me.

"We're currently at one of the most expensive resorts in the country and all you wanna do is sleep?" he asks. Again, I just shrug. He's now frowning though.

"What? I'm tired," I tell him.

"They have a squash court here. We haven't played in so long," he says.

"Right after breakfast?" Now I'm the one frowning and he smacks me. I pout and glare at him.

"No dumbass! We can check the shops and play once the food's down," he says, "C'mon. I'll buy you anything," he grins and I roll my eyes at him.

Tempting, though.

"Fine!" I relent in the end, "but you have to buy me everything I lay my eyes on!" I threaten him which only makes his grin wider and my eye-roll intensifies.

"Aren't I always?" he claims and I chuckle.

"So true," I grin back at him, feeling slightly better because of Chuck's teasing and am secretly glad that he's here with me.

Finally witnessing our settlement, Marsha smiles and turns her attention towards Allen and Joy, "What about you two?" she asks.

"Hmmm… We're planning the couple's massage late in the afternoon. But before that? I'm not sure," Joy says, turning to Allen, inquiring.

"Maybe we'll just walk around," Allen answers, shrugging.

Yo! Pain! What took you so long!?

"Why don't you two join me and Lee look around the shops and we can maybe play a game or two before your appointment or before lunch?" Chuck offers and I secretly groan at him and his out-of-character friendliness.

"Sure. That'll be nice. Thank you," Joy smiles at us. I gulp down the pain and discomfort with much effort.

"Well, since it seems that we'll be having lunch separately, why don't we stay in tonight and cook for ourselves?" Marsha suggests.

"You can cook?" Joy asks much in surprise.

"The four of us are actually quite good," Kenneth tells her and proceeds to tell her and Allen how we came to be self-proclaimed proficient chefs.

"Aww… That's so cute! You guys are so lovely!" Joy exclaims enviously.

"Yeah, well, not the part where they turned my room into a Hello Kitty Paradise, though," Kenneth grumbles.

"Relax, dude," I grin at him and pat his shoulder reassuringly, "I have a much better one this year," I tell him and I can feel his whole body stiffens as he glances at me before he turns to Marsha with a pleading look, looking for comfort, help and reassurance, which, to my glee, he doesn't get.

"I love you, Kenny," Marsha tells him sweetly. Kenneth groans and we, of course, laugh at him.

Me and Chuck exchange glances and whispers about our plan for this year's theme, which we have decided as 'Torture Chamber' and we can see Kenneth's face getting whiter by the second the wider our smiles grow.

"Why am I putting up with them again?" Kenneth asks Marsha.

"Because you love them," Marsha states matter-of-factly and Kenneth, despite his groan, can't even refute that. "And, of course, because you love me," she adds with a smile as sweet as an angel and me and Chuck burst out laughing again.

"I must love you a lot then," Kenneth groans.

"You better," Marsha says, giggling as she kisses Kenneth to appease him.

"Get a room, you two!" I yell at them when the kiss slowly starts to turn into a full-blown make-out session.

"Good idea, c'mon," Marsha says with a slightly flushed face as she takes Kenneth's hand and drags him away. Kenneth, grinning like an idiot, waves his hand at us as we roll our eyes at them.

The rest of us also get up and head towards the rows of stores on the east side of the resort. We're hopping from store to store, spending some time in each, carefully scanning every item. There are lots of local goods and some other regions' crafts. I, of course, shamelessly point at stuff that caught my eyes while Chuck gathers them in his hand before paying for everything.

As for Joy and Allen, they mostly just look at stuff, arguing whether they need them or not and settle after Joy gives him a glare and Allen goes to pay for whatever they finally settle on. But he does so with a smile on his face, so I bet their 'argument' isn't really an argument at all and just Joy and Allen being Joy and Allen.

I try to have fun while my insides are twisting seeing how close Allen and Joy are. I can only sigh with relief when it's already past twelve and me and Chuck head to the squash court.

We change our clothes and play for more than an hour. We're sweating bullets but we're laughing. I haven't played squash with Chuck in so long and it always turns into a competition whenever we play. This time too, a little wager is placed after just fifteen minutes into the game. Like usual, the wager is for the loser to be a slave for the winner for a day, and, guess what? I won! Woo hoo! Not!

Well, I almost won. But Chuck, being a star athlete with scholarship and all, has more stamina. Like, a lot more.

I scowl when I miss my last hit. I groan and glare at him while he just laughs. I pout all the way to the shower, out to the streets, until we reach the restaurant where we will be having lunch.

"Stop pouting, Lee," Chuck chuckles, poking my cheek. We sit across from each other at the restaurant and he's having fun poking my cheek and pinching it.

I hiss and try to bite his hand, trying to take one of his fingers off. He pulls his hand back and laughs delightfully. He changes from messing with my cheek to messing with my hair.

"You know I can't take it when you're this cute, right?" he teases. I scoff and look away. I hate it when he calls me cute. It's embarrassing.

"Gosh! Finally!" I exclaim in relief when the food arrives. I am hungry, but not starving, to be honest. I haven't had much appetite lately. Maybe because I'm too busy doing nothing. Humph.

"You're done already?" Chuck asks, surprise.

"Hmm? Yes," I look down at my own plate. There's still a bit of everything left. See? Not much appetite.

"Are you okay?" Chuck asks and the concern in his voice makes me flinch before I manage to give him a wide smile.

"Wanna go to the petting zoo after you're done?" I ask, avoiding to question altogether. I really don't want to lie to him anymore. Not when I can help it.

"Lee…" Chuck's voice calling me makes me grit my teeth as I try to hold together my sanity.

"Please?" I ask, somehow choking while still maintaining my smile which I am sure in his eyes looks as real as a Kardashian's ass.

"Okay," Chuck finally says after a moment of excruciating silence.

I smile gratefully. Genuinely, this time.